Yé-Yé Of The Day: Évariste

(I reserve the right for this feature to not necessarily involve yé-yé music, or be posted every day.)



The première Yé-Yé Of The Day is a song by psychedelic French oddball Évariste entitled "Les Pommes De Lune." One of the main attractions to me is the way he starts singing like he's channeling Fozzie Bear or gargling water in various parts of the song...but seriously, it's one of the best French psych songs I've heard, complete with great acid-inspired lyrics.

The only info I can find about Évariste online is this page, which describes his involvement with the May '68 revolution. Fucking awesome. And if you click the little picture of him on the bottom, it takes you to a page with another mp3.

Edit: After translating "La Révolution," his song about May '68, into English, I've decided to post an mp3 of the song along with my rough translation. Feel free to correct it.

"La Révolution"

Father Legrand says to his little boy
"Goddamn, what is wrong?
What are you going to do in the streets, sonny?"
"I'm going to start the revolution."

"But, heavens, god damn, god damn,
I've given you enough money!"
"Against the society of consumption
I want to start the revolution."

The Revolution! The Revolution!

"But I've paid for your school.
It's not just for daydreaming."
"They don't learn from our outrage,
And they prevent us from demonstrating."

"Ah, yes, you'll work like me, I'm afraid,
When you don't make it into the higher class."
"We will dispense with class differences.
It's why we're starting the revolution."

The Revolution! The Revolution!

"If you won't quit now,
Look outside--it's packed with cops!"
"No, Dad, it's the CRS,
And I'm going to go kick their asses!"

"But look, sonny, don't you see
That it's the Reds who are behind everything here?"
"Oh, Dad, I'm begging you, you're talking bullshit,
Leave the fear of red to beasts with horns."

It's the Revolution! The Revolution!

"Then explain to me, my dear,
Tell me about that Cohn-Bendit."
"You've made it clear to me that you're an idiot,
And me, I want to start the revolution."

The Revolution! The Revolution!